You can use both. I acknowledged that in parenthesis right before I discuss Arcane Magic. The main thing is just to be purposeful and clear with the reader. You need to make sure the reader understands which magical abilities are rooted in the school of magic that is determined at birth vs those that can be learned. If people not born with magic can learn defensive magics, who is developing them? Were they developed by people from each school to protect non-magic users from those abusing their magical abilities? If they can be learned by those born without magical abilities, can someone from one school develop or learn magic that protects them from another school? I’m not asking you to actually answer these questions here, just pointing out some things to think about to make sure you stay consistent. Of course, if you want to discuss your magic system, I would be happy to provide feedback.

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Comment on Creating a Magic System for Your Fantasy World by Shawna https://www.ericwsparks.com/magic-system-creation/#comment-3
Thu, 17 May 2018 21:35:09 +0000https://www.ericwsparks.com/?p=384#comment-3I could totally have a long conversation about this. I honestly don’t know what to think of the title. Especially in terms to my own magic system. (Mind you, my world went through 4 different magic systems through its history because of cataclysmic changes to the world (and I’m talking about in the story, not in the creation of the story. In creation I’ve probably gone through over a dozen)).
I feel like my magic system could be placed in both categories. There are inherit magics, but there’s also magic that can be learned without being born with abilities (one magic-less character seeks these out to be stronger to be able to defend themselves against magic users). In the world itself magic is a mystery, but the “scientists” of the world have labeled and sectioned magic (as they like to label and section everything). And there are 12 main “schools” of magic. (Though there are beings that can break these rules that the “scientists” conducted, but those are usually greater beings). Usually people that are born with magic are born into a single school and can’t do anything outside of it (though each school is broken down into further categories that people are inside, like the Kiersey Persinality chart that has 4 types inside 4 types). But the “scientists” are usually chosen by the previous generation because they’re the people with the natural ability to use all the schools. (They are actually the druids).

And I realized I’ve gone on about it a lot, but after reading your article, I’m not entirely sure where my system would place itself in your two choices, but my system wholly works for my story.

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Comment on Creating a Magic System for Your Fantasy World by Sparky https://www.ericwsparks.com/magic-system-creation/#comment-2
Wed, 16 May 2018 21:42:11 +0000https://www.ericwsparks.com/?p=384#comment-2You are quite welcome Zachary! I am in the middle of a new initiative of writing blogs once per week on the novel creation process. The next one will be posted Friday. Be sure to come back and check it out!
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Comment on Creating a Magic System for Your Fantasy World by Zachary Brooks https://www.ericwsparks.com/magic-system-creation/#comment-1
Wed, 16 May 2018 21:10:52 +0000https://www.ericwsparks.com/?p=384#comment-1Omg!!!! Thank you so much! I’m actually writing a fantasy novel and was wondering about this the other day!!!
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